Royal Restaurant- Finally, Some Delicious Indian/Pakistani food

Restaurant- Royal Restaurant

11919 Bissonet St. Houston, Texas 77099

Buffet or a-la-carte? A-la-carte

Date of visit: 6/20/13

Background:
Salam/Hello everyone and welcome to my latest review! Today I will be reviewing Royal Restaurant. I had finished being interviewed for an internship position at a charity that was located just a few feet away from this restaurant and was really hungry. After finding out that money was added to my credit card, I immediately went to the restaurant. I knew from pre-blog times that this was an Indian/Pakistani restaurant because I knew many people that really liked their food. I was skeptical at first, considering the fact that I haven't had good Indian food outside my house for a very long time. As an Indian, it is really hard to find a delicious Indian/Pakistani restaurant, considering the fact that my mom makes the best Indian/Pakistani food at my house. In fact, the last time I enjoyed an Indian/Pakistani meal outside the house was before I started making this blog. I had to go here because there was no point in driving to Sugar Land or Hillcroft Avenue just to eat. I entered the restaurant, hoping that it would end my Indian cuisine curse.


Let The Experience Begin!
Royal Restaurant is located in a strip mall that bears it name. Along with the restaurant, there is Royal Groceries, Royal Clothes shop, and Royal Tours & Travel. At the entrance are two separate doors. One is for families, and one is for single people. This reminded me of Saudi Arabia, where all major restaurants were segregated by family and single men. Inside, there are large tables and booths along with a TV playing Indian TV programs. There was another TV that had pictures of the menu of the restaurant. There were pictures hanging on the wall of Gov. Rick Perry visiting the restaurant back in 2007. Now if the Governor visits the restaurant, then it is a clean indicator that this restaurant is actually really delicious! This brought some optimism; there's actually a chance that an Indian/Pakistani restaurant is as good as home-cooked food! After greeting the owner, I proceeded to the menu.


Let's Eat!
I ordered my favorite Indian dish: Chicken Biryani. For those who don't know what biryani is, it is a yellow rice dish made with pieces of chicken and spices. The rice gets its yellow color from saffron. The biryani came with raita, a yoghurt condiment made with mint. Fresh onions, cucumbers, and carrots came along with the raita. To drink, I got water. The Biryani cost $7.99 ($8.65 with tax), and the water was free! Props to them for doing that. But that's not all. The water came in a full jug just for me. And the Biryani came in a full plate for me also. All the food came in a record time of 3 minutes and 25 seconds!! Never before in my life have I been served this quickly.

Menu: No menu pics, and there is a problem. On the website, the prices are not listed. The prices range from $4.99 to $10.99, so it is very affordable to eat. But all the options are available --> Royal Restaurant Menu

The Full Setup

A plate of Biryani

All Done!

The Verdict:

Finally, I am proud to say that this is one of the very few Indian/Pakistani restaurants that serve great food! Thus, THE CURSE IS OVER! The biryani was flavorful and very filling. It was spiced perfectly. The raita was perfectly cooked. No chunks of yogurt and mint were seen. The cucumbers, onions and carrots were fresh. I felt that this was very close to my mother's amazing home cooked food. Overall, two thumbs up.

Conclusion:
The decision to stay and eat here really paid off. I will definitely come back to Royal Restaurant whenever I drive down to Fort Bend county (Sugar Land, Stafford, etc.). For once, there is a restaurant that is very close to my mom's home cooking. Service was top-notch, and the food was reasonably priced. No wonder Rick Perry enjoyed eating here when he visited. So if you want to eat Indian/Pakistani food at a reasonable price, and if you are around Fort Bend County, then this is the right place for you


Grading:
Service: 10/10 (Top-notch)
Food: 10/10 (Absolutely delicious)
Waiting Time: 10/10
Overall: 30/30 = 100% (A)
Pricing: $ out of $$$$


Restaurant Information:

Royal Restaurant

11919 Bissonet St. Houston, Texas 77099

Phone: (281) 520-1100

Website: http://www.royalrestauranttexas.com/

Facebook: None

Timings --> Mon-Sun: 12 PM - 12 AM

Caters: Yes

Party Hall available if requested

Feel Free to Comment Below!

Cheers!

Zain Mohammed

CLOSED- BZ Grill - A Taste of New York Deep in the Heart of Texas

Restaurant- BZ Grill
2659 Gessner Rd. Houston, Texas 77043
Buffet or a-la-carte? A-la-carte
Date of visit: 6/20/13

(Copyright: zabihah.com)

UPDATE 8/14/13

According to a reader, this place has now closed down due to slow business. This place will be missed

Background:

Salam/Hello everyone. Today I will be reviewing BZ Grill, a New York style halal restaurant in Houston. So basically I wanted to try a place that was very cheap to enjoy a nice full meal. With a budget of only $7, it was very difficult to find a halal restaurant (I don't do that McDonalds or other processed fast food crap) that had cheap prices. Most of the restaurants I had been to and reviewed had costed over $10, tax included. Then a friend recommended me BZ Grill. When I read it was New York style, I immediately started for that restaurant. I was awed by the success of the halal food carts in Manhattan, and I hoped that it would have that same amazing taste as everyone says. Optimistic, I arrived at the restaurant.

Let The Experience Begin:

The restaurant is located near the Memorial City Mall on Gessner Road. It is in a small strip mall with a patio outside. Inside, there is a collection of pictures of all the menu options. Now these pictures were not photoshopped. They were actual pictures of the actual menu. There was also a TV where Divorce Court was airing on Channel 26 (KRIV). The ambiance was very nice. It was like a casual diner with happy customers eating their food. At the counter was a friendly gentleman who greeted me and then I proceeded to order.

Let's Eat:

Normally I would order chicken over rice, but I had a low budget so I couldn't. Sometimes, I wish restaurants would be like Saudi Arabia, where there was no tax on the food and drink. So I ended up ordering a chili cheese hot dog along with a Sprite. Now I normally don't drink Coke products, but this time, it was a necessity. While cans of soda were 80 cents, water was $1.50! What's the logic behind that? But the hot dog was a great value: $2.49! Very good price, and so far the cheapest thing I have eaten here in the US. Along with the chili cheese dog, I got a can of Sprite. I ended up paying $3.56 (tax included). Another good thing is that the majority of choice in the entire menu were under $10, just like the carts in Manhattan. Huge props to them for that. The wait time was 15 minutes, so no points deducted for waiting time


Menu: The menu can be found here --> http://bz-grill.com/menu.html

The chili cheese dog and Sprite

The Verdict:

The chili cheese dog maybe look tiny, but it was very filling! It was also delicious! The cheese was very flavorful along with the chili. The sausage was cooked perfectly. The bread had some black things on it, but it turned out to be something that was to the bread taste nicely. Everything was made fresh and not frozen. I must warn you, however, that when you eat the hot dog, some of the chili and cheese slips from the dish. So a fork is necessary to scoop up the dropped stuff (Don't think about eating the whole thing with a fork :P ). The chili cheese dog was washed down by a can of Sprite.

Conclusion:

If you want to eat a nice filling meal for a very cheap price, then this place would be better. Only a few items out of the whole menu was over $10. The New York feeling is definitely there, with the choices of replications of the famous dishes at the halal carts in Manhattan, and the options of other American favorites. The service is top-notch, and the food doesn't take forever to come. One thing I would suggest fixing is the price for drinks. I would suggest that water and soda be the same price: 80 cents. I had never expected a price difference that big. Nevertheless, I will definitely come back, and I will definitely have the chicken over rice. But for now, I hope that their business flourishes and become as popular as the carts in Manhattan.

Grading:

Service: 10/10 (Great and efficient)

Food: 9/10 (Apart from some things falling down, delicious)

Waiting Time: 10/10 

Overall: 29/30 = 96.7% (A)

Pricing: $ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information:
BZ Grill
2659 Gessner Rd. Houston, Texas 77043
Phone: (713) 462-2947
Website: http://bz-grill.com/
Facebook: BZ Grill Facebook Page
Timings --> Mon-Sun: 10:30 AM - 9 PM
Caters: No

Feel Free to Comment Below!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed

Inchin Bamboo Garden- The Ultimate Worst Experience

Restaurant- Inchin Bamboo Garden
5106 Great Northern Mall, North Olmsted, Ohio 44070
Buffet or a-la-carte? Both
Date of Visit: 6/2/13

Background:

Salam/Hello guys! Welcome to my latest review of Inchin's Bamboo Garden. This is a restaurant chain that is located across America. They have locations in Atlanta, Austin, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Lawrenceville New Jersey, Raleigh, San Francisco, and Seattle. This post reviews the location in Cleveland. The Cleveland location is in the suburb of North Olmsted. It is considered to be one of the main mall restaurants, as it is adjacent to the Westfield Great Northern mall. This was the last meal I had on my vacation before returning to Houston. My aunt had recommended me the restaurant, as she is a regular customer along with all my cousins. I was hopeful it was good, and it would remind me of the amazing Gulf Royal Chinese restaurant back in my hometown for 12 years, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. There, the food was amazing and was considered to be one of my many favorite restaurants there. It was located just 10 minuted from their house. I had plenty of time before my 6:30 flight back to Houston, so I wasn't panicking. After I finished my packing, we drove off to the restaurant.

Let the Experience Begin:

The restaurant was located next to Tadka Indian Cuisine. It had a very dark setting to create the feeling of ambiance and being in a high-end restaurant. We were greeted by a emotionless waiter. All he said was "Hello", "Follow me please", and "What would you like to drink? No emotion. No smile. Couldn't he be more lively? Like say "Welcome to Inchin's" or actually engage in conversation with the customers. Now don't get me wrong. I am spoiled by restaurants that actually have good service, where the waiter/waitresses are friendly and professional and would actually say proper sentences when addressing the customers with emotion, not say short sentences. In front of our table was a dosa (spicy crepe) station, headed by the only friendly employee. She was very lively and kept the customers engaged while she was making the dosas. Oh snap! For the first time since the first review (found here), INDIAN FOOD! After all the times of enjoying cuisines from Italian (Crespos) to Caribbean (D'Caribbean), it was back to my traditional home-cooked food. As an Indian, I can judge whether the food is like my mom's home cooking or just reheated spiceless crap. Heck, there have been Indian restaurants that I have been to here in the USA that are as delicious as my mom's cooking (all pre-blog times, sorry). This is going to turn out to be interesting. 

Let's Eat:

We all decided to take the weekend buffet. Along with the Indian food, there was a Chinese stand. The Indian food consisted of Chicken curry, Lamb Curry, Hyderabadi biryani, Tandoori Chicken, Idli (rice dumplings), sambar (spicy lentils curry), paneer (cottage cheese) and aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower curry). The Chinese food consisted of Chicken Drumsticks called Drumsticks of Heaven, vegetarian noodles, Szechuan Chicken, and Szechuan fish. I always had the rule that for every multi-cuisine buffet, one helping = one cuisine. So one helping consisted of Indian food and one helping of Chinese food. The buffet was quiet expensive: $9.95. In Houston, the nearest buffet to my house (Review coming soon) is maximum $7.95. The buffet is not everyday. It is only for lunch on weekends and also for parties. Every other time, it is a-la-carte. Refills of water were done on a regular basis, but the people were emotionless. Note: Alcohol is served, but not used in food.

Menu for a-la-carte (PDF required): Inchin's Bamboo Gardens Cleveland Menu

Buffet pics:

The Buffet spread with my cousin taking food

Chinese Dish (noodles, Drumsticks, Szechuan Chicken)

Indian Dish (Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Curry, Lamb Curry, Biryani)

Dosa Station

The Verdict:

So the food was good like the previous day in Dearborn (review found here) right? WRONG! It was a 180 degree turn. The food was just pathetic! Not just one cuisine, both. The noodles were bland, the Szechuan chicken was tasteless and the Drumsticks of Heaven was like the Drumsticks of Hell. Biryani is my favorite Indian dish, but this one was one of the worst I have ever had. It had no flavor whatsoever. The tandoori chicken was bland, and both curries was not spicy at all. I bet everything on the buffet spread was reheated constantly. Is it really that hard for them to make fresh food during the entire buffet time? There are buffets back in Houston where everything is fresh and tastes well. This reminded me of the horrendous experience I faced at BBQ Tonite in Houston (pre-blog times) where the food was reheated nonstop and I nearly spat my food out because of the horrible taste. This was definitely a lot worse than Tandoori Nite, where the rice was the only good part. While I didn't like the food, the rest were enjoying. Maybe I have different taste buds than they do, or maybe I am unlucky with Indian cuisine outside of my house most of the time because I am spoiled by my mother's amazing cooking. But anyways, two thumbs down and not a good way to end the vacation.

Conclusion:

Out of all the restaurants I have been to in the US, this was definitely the worst. The service wasn't good, and the food was just downright horrible. I still wonder how it has been around for a while. I will, however, still come back and try the a-la-carte because there are chances that the a-la-carte would turn out much better than the buffet, and I will post an updated review of the restaurant the next time I visit Cleveland and that restaurant. But for now, if you want to eat a good halal meal in Cleveland, spend your money somewhere else. 

Grading: (Waiting time does not apply) 

Service: 5/10 (Emotionless, no smiles except the Dosa Station lady)

Food: 2/10 (Food was disgusting)

Waiting Time: N/A

Overall: 7/20 = 35% (F) (First F of this blog)

Pricing: $$ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information:

Inchin Bamboo Garden
5106 Great Northern Mall, North Olmsted, Ohio 44070
Phone: (440) 734-0500
Website: http://www.bamboo-gardens.com/
Facebook: Inchin Bamboo Garden Cleveland Page
Timings: Lunch --> Mon-Fri: 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM; Sat-Sun: 12 PM - 3 PM
Dinner--> Mon-Thu and Sun: 5 PM - 10 PM; Fri-Sat: 5 PM - 10:30 PM
Caters: Yes

Feel free to comment below!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed

Another Update to the Blog

Salam/Hello guys!

Here is another update to the blog. From this post on. there will be an indication to whether the restaurant has buffet or a-la-carte dining. Also, if the restaurant is a buffet, then the waiting time grade will not apply.

Thanks and Happy Eating!

Zain Mohammed

Famous Hamburger = Man v. Food

Restaurant: Famous Hamburger
5808 Schaefer Hwy. Dearborn, Michigan 48126
Date of visit: 6/1/13

Background:
Salam/Hello everyone! Sorry for not writing long as I had fallen sick. I came down with a high fever and literally could not do anything. Anyways, welcome to my latest review of Famous Hamburger. I was visiting Detroit with my uncle and cousins, and we got hungry. We all knew Dearborn had a large concentration of halal restaurants because it has a very large Arab population. We decided to come here to Famous Hamburger. This brought back memories of my last visit in 2011, where I nearly finished off their 2 lb (nearly 1kg) burger! My inspiration to eat this was the show on Travel Channel called Man v. Food. I had the pleasure of seeing the host, Adam Richman, eat his butt out every week WITHOUT GETTING SICK!, so I was inspired to try a food challenge at least once in my lifetime. Thus, this visit gave me a chance to redeem myself and try to successfully finish off the whole thing! We made our way to the restaurant, and I had waited in anticipation to see what was in store with the 2 lb burger.

Let the Experience Begin!

Famous Hamburger has a very nice interior. It was decorated with paintings that had visualized a burger place full of hungry and satisfied customers.  I also noticed that there was a TV and hookah lounge in the restaurant, and even a patio. They even have pictures from when they opened for the first time in 1970. This showed that the business had been very successful in all these years. We were escorted to a window-side table by a very friendly waitress and began to order.

Let's Eat!

I went for the 2 lb challenger burger with water, while my uncle and cousins each had the Famous Wings, normal cheeseburgers with fries and Pepsi. I normally would take Pepsi, but it would hinder me from finishing the burger. I even did not take fries. This turned out to be the most expensive burger that I have ever eaten: $19.99. The normal cheeseburgers and the Famous Wings were $8.99 each, which were a tad expensive. You could see the burgers be cooked on the grill, so the sight of fresh burgers is common. Regarding the waiting time, I gave them 10 extra minutes than the 20 minute limit because of the gigantic 2 lb burger. They delivered, with the total waiting time of 27 minutes. Great job!

Menu: No pics here, but it is very interesting. Menu ---> Famous Hamburger Menu (PDF required)

Famous Wings

The Challenger

The normal cheeseburger with fries

Almost finished....AGAIN

The Verdict:

I ate 1.9 out of 2 lb. UGH SO CLOSE! Heck, many people looked at me while I was eating, thinking that I am either a man with an appetite, or a stupid idiot who is brainless because he would eat that much food. Anyways, the challenger was absolutely delightful. They had a sauce that was out of this world! The vegetables were fresh, and the burger was well done and not pink. And there was an equal balance between the vegetables and the meat. Overall, top marks! My uncle and cousins were both satisfied with their wings and burgers, saying that they were amazing and would come here again whenever they visit Dearborn.

Conclusion:

Would I come here? An absolute Y-E-S. Famous Hamburger definitely nailed their food. I will definitely come again whenever I visit Dearborn, but not have the Challenger. This is because my parents would kill me if I had it again and would ban me from eating out for eating excessively :P But this is a once or twice in a lifetime experience. I would have a normal burger but customize it by adding things like turkey bacon, eggs, and extra cheese. But don't get me wrong, the Challenger was one of the bust burgers I have had in my lifetime.

There were two things I liked. First, the menu is very diverse. It has options from American to Mexican to Mediterranean. They have healthy options like salad and a veggie burger, which is good if you are on a diet. They even have a kids menu and have mini burgers because they know the appetite of kids. They even have, get this, a PEANUT BUTTER burger and even a FRENCH CROISSANT burger. Definitely creative. The second thing I liked were the timings. Every Monday to Thrusday, and Sunday, the restaurant is open until midnight. On Friday and Saturday, the restaurant is open until 3 AM! This would be ideal for someone looking for a late night bite after a long day. I wonder how much sleep the people working there get? If Famous Hamburger would come to Houston (they have branches in Astoria NY, and Ann Arbor MI), then there would be a whole new ballgame in the Halal burger industry in the city. But for now, I hope that their business continues to flourish and continue their legacy in Dearborn and the rest of Detroit.

Grading:

Service: 10/10 (No problems here and they were friendly)

Food: 10/10 (One of the best meals in my life)

Waiting time: 10/10 (27 out of 30 minutes)

Overall: 30/30 = 100% (A)

Pricing: $$ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information:

Famous Hamburger
5808 Schaefer Hwy. Dearborn, Michigan 48126
Phone: (313) 945-0002
Website: http://www.famoushamburger.com/
Facebook: Famous Hamburger Facebook page
Timings: Mon-Thu: 10 AM - midnight; Fri-Sat: 10 AM - 3 AM; Sun: 12 PM - midnight
Caters: Yes
Curbside pickup available

Feel free to comment below!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed

CLOSED: Kebab Factory- A Hole in the Wall in the Middle of Steel City

Restaurant: Kebab Factory
121 Oakland Ave. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
Date of Visit: 5/31/13

UPDATE: 5/11/15: This place has now closed.

Background:

Salam/Hello everyone and welcome to my first review outside the city of Houston! Today we will be reviewing Kebab Factory, a hole in the wall restaurant located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was visiting Pittsburgh with my uncle. We had driven from Cleveland, Ohio to visit, and we had gotten hungry after visiting the Carnegie Science Center and praying at a 81 year old mosque! So we looked up zabihah.com, and this restaurant was the closes to our location. After the prayers were over, we went to the restaurant.

Let the Experience Begin!

The restaurant was located a few blocks away from both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. I first thought it would be like a legit restaurant, but it was a hole in the wall! It reminded me of my trip to Turkey, where there were many of these types selling Doner Kebab. When I went inside, it was a very simple interior, with a fridge next to a couple of tables. A young lady was at the counter and we proceeded to the menu and started ordering.

Let's Eat!
My uncle ordered the shish kabab with a bottle of Coke. while I went for the mixed grill with a bottle of water. The pricing was appropriate, $ 7.95 for the shish kabab and $13.95 for the mixed grill. The mixed grill composed of shish, adana, kofte, and gyro. One thing that caught my eye, however, was the notion of a vegetarian entree in the menu. Now don't get me wrong. I like to also eat vegetables along with the meat, and some of my favorite foods are lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, and broccoli. But in a Turkish restaurant, having grilled vegetables as an entree is absolutely unacceptable. Instead of that, they could make a falafel entree dish, with rice and tahini. Or they can also make a falafel shawarma. Don't they know that falafel can be used as an entree as well? Anyways, back to the reality. The waiting time was the longest yet. My uncle got his entree in 10 minutes, while I got mine in 19 minutes and 25 seconds. By 35 seconds, they don't lose points, but I will give them a thumb up for managing to make a whole load of meat in less than 20 minutes!

Menu: Again no menu pics :/ but here is the link --> Kebab Factory Pittsburgh Menu

The covered dish

Uncovered (thank you dearest uncle for cooperating for this review)

My dish

The Verdict:
My uncle really liked his dish. He told me that it was a great idea to come here and eat, despite it being a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Regarding my dish, all the different kebabs were acceptable except for the Adana kebab. It was bland. When I took a bite into it, there was no taste whatsoever. To improve, it could be more spicy. But despite that, an overall acceptable meal.
Another downside is the cutlery. While the food is served on a nice china plate, the cutlery was plastic. The only time plastic cutlery should be used is for catering because of the large number of people that would be present at an event. But at a restaurant? NO. This is because customers would usually find it difficult to cut the meat. Heck, there have been times when the cutlery broke as people tried cutting their meat while eating. A good meal is one that tastes well and has no problems.


Conclusion:
This place will definitely do well because of its proximity to two well known colleges. I am concerned, however, about whether the restaurant can nail their food. The question that remains is: Will this restaurant be deserted like Tandoori Nite, where no one goes because it is known that their food is garbage, or will it be popular like the Halal Carts in UT Austin. From a visitor's point of view who has known kebab since childhood, this food is acceptable. It lies right in the middle between the contaminated kebabs at Aladdin (worst) to the ones I ate during my days in Saudi Arabia (the best). It was a simple affair. We came, we ate, we left. Would I recommend this restaurant? Only if you are in downtown Pittsburgh and have no time to go other places.


Grading: (From my perspective)
Service: 7.5/10 (Vegetarian entree + plastic cutlery = not good)
Food: 7/10 (Acceptable)
Waiting time: 10/10
Overall: 24.5/30 = 81.6% (B)
Pricing: $$ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information:
Kebab Factory
121 Oakland Ave. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania15213
Phone: (412) 904-4487
Website: http://pittkebabfactory.com/
Facebook: None
Timings: Mon-Sun: 11 AM - 11 PM
Caters: Yes

Feel free to comment below!
Cheers!
Zain Mohammed